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Batsman set to resume partnership with Tom Banton in next summer’s Vitality Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2020

Babar Azam walks off after reaching his hundred from the final ball•Getty Images

Babar Azam, the Pakistan batsman, has signed a deal that will see him return to Somerset as the club’s overseas player for five weeks next summer.Babar, who scored 578 runs at an average of 52.54 to finish as the leading run-scorer in the Vitality Blast last summer, will be available for 12 T20 group-stage games and County Championship fixtures against Gloucestershire and Kent.He will replace Matthew Wade as the club’s main overseas player, and will depart in time for Pakistan’s tour of the Netherlands, which is followed by two T20Is in Ireland, and three Tests and three T20Is against England.Babar is likely to resume his partnership with Tom Banton at the top of the Somerset order, which saw the pair finish as the competition’s top-two run-scorers last summer, with interest in them so high that the county was forced to upgrade its website as the traffic from Pakistan had caused it to crash.”I really enjoyed my time at Somerset, and I look forward to coming back next year,” said Babar. “Somerset has a very good squad and the supporters made me feel very welcome. Hopefully I can help the Club reach the knock-out stages of the Vitality Blast and contribute to winning matches in the County Championship.”Andy Hurry, the club’s director of cricket, said: “Babar Azam is the best IT20 batsman in the world and his return will be a major boost for us. He played a significant role for us in the Vitality Blast last year and his stats speak for themselves.”He made a number of match-winning contributions and he fitted seamlessly into the dressing room. You can’t ask more from your overseas players than that. His batting is so easy on the eye and he is so hungry to evolve his game. He will add significant value to the team, both with his batting and leadership.””He was extremely popular with our members and supporters but also with our playing squad. He is a truly world-class talent and we look forward to working with him again in 2020 in both the Vitality Blast and the County Championship.”

Glasgow Rangers are back in Europa League action this week as they travel away from Scotland to take on Benfica in Portugal this evening.

The Light Blues face off against the Liga Portugal giants in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the European competition, ahead of the return clash at Ibrox next week.

Philippe Clement will be looking for a strong response from his team tonight after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Motherwell last weekend.

The Gers, thanks to Celtic losing to Hearts on Sunday, remain top of the Scottish Premiership table as they go in search of domestic and European glory before the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

Clement could make at least one change to the starting XI that lost to Motherwell after an injury sustained during the first half of that encounter.

Latest Rangers injury news

Academy graduate Ross McCausland lined up on the left wing for the Light Blues but was forced off with a knock before the half-time break.

Motherwell defender Dan Casey went in with a strong challenge – that Clement described as having too much "intensity" – on the young winger that led to him being substituted for Fabio Silva.

After the match, the Gers boss claimed that it was a "serious" injury for the Northern Ireland international but was not able to offer any timeline on his return at the time.

The former Rangers B star was then seen on crutches later that day, which may have left supporters concerned about his involvement in this clash with Benfica.

However, there was good news for Clement and Rangers on Wednesday as the talented whiz joined his teammates for a full training session ahead of the trip to Portugal.

This suggests that his injury may not have been as serious as was first feared, which means that he could now be in contention to feature tonight.

Oscar Cortes, who joined on loan from Lens during the last transfer window, is currently out with a long-term injury, whilst Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Abdallah Sima is also absent with a thigh injury sustained playing for Senegal in January.

Those blows have left Clement without a plethora of options to pick from in the wide areas, which is why he may not want to risk McCausland from the start against Benfica.

The safe option could be to either rest him completely ahead of the weekend or to bring him off the bench, to avoid aggravating the injury sustained against Motherwell.

With this in mind, the Belgian tactician must ruthlessly ditch the Northern Irish wizard, who has not registered a goal or an assist in his last six matches, by unleashing Fabio Silva from the start on the left flank.

Ross McCausland's attacking statistics this season

The 20-year-old gem has emerged as a regular first-team operator throughout the 2023/24 campaign, having graduated from the academy set-up, but is yet to nail down his consistency in front of goal.

He has made 28 appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions so far this season, with 22 of those coming in the Premiership and four in the Europa League.

McCausland has only contributed with two goals and three assists for the Light Blues in those 28 matches, which is a return of one goal or assist every 5.6 games on average.

Appearances

4

Starts

1

Goals

1

Key passes

2

Dribbles completed

4

As you can see in the table above, the Gers youngster has scored in the Europa League already this season but was not trusted to start more than one match in the competition during the group stages.

The right-footed forward has also only started 13 times in the Premiership, and chipped in with one goal and two assists for the Scottish giants.

These statistics show that McCausland has not offered consistent quality in the final third as either a scorer or creator of goals from a wide position, which is why – along with the injury concern – he should be ruthlessly ditched for tonight's match.

The stats that show why Silva should replace McCausland

Clement must now unleash Silva, ahead of Scott Wright, as his replacement on the left flank in the absence of Cortes and Sima this evening.

He is naturally a centre-forward but has the dynamism, pace, and technical ability to be deployed on the wing, as shown by the manager's decision to bring him on for McCausland against Motherwell.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee made an impact during the second half as his clever flick over the defender resulted in a late challenge to win a penalty for Rangers, which was dispatched by James Tavernier.

Appearances

9

17

Starts

4

5

Goals

2

0

Key passes per game

0.6

0.6

Assists

0

0

Penalties won

1

0

As you can see in the table above, Silva has made a greater impact in the final third – with two more goals and one more penalty won – despite having played eight fewer matches in the Premiership.

The 6 foot 1 dynamo, whose work rate was hailed as "infectious" by teammate Connor Goldson, has scored three goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for the club since his move on loan in January, which means that he has already outscored McCausland for the first-team.

Playing on the left flank is not a natural role for him but his penalty-winning cameo against Motherwell suggests that the young whiz has the potential to do well in that position.

He won the penalty by driving into the box from the left wing to get on the end of a pass and Silva then used his fantastic technical ability to lift the ball over the sliding defender, who clattered into the forward's ankles.

Clement must now unleash the tricky attacker from the start against Benfica to see if he can produce moments of magic like that to help the side take a positive result back to Ibrox for the second leg.

McCausland could then be used as an impact substitute for the Gers in the second half and not be risked after his injury concern last weekend.

Tottenham could be a part of one of the "biggest transfer stories" this summer as news comes out of N17 this week.

Lange making transfer plans to sign winger for Spurs

Technical director Johan Lange enjoyed quite the debut transfer window at Spurs in January, sealing early deals for Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin before eventually helping the club to hijack Barcelona's move to Swedish sensation Lucas Bergvall.

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The Dane is now making preparations for the summer window alongside Chief Football Officer Scott Munn, with ex-managing director Fabio Paratici also thought to be assisting Spurs on a consultancy basis.

Tottenham apparently want a star winger as their major signing of the next transfer window, leading to their reported interest in the likes of Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze and Wolves winger Pedro Neto lately.

Fulham (away)

March 16th

Luton Town (home)

March 30th

West Ham (away)

April 2nd

Nottingham Forest (home)

April 8th

Newcastle United (away)

April 13th

This is despite the Lilywhites already possessing an abundance of quality out wide, with Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner all proving brilliant in recent weeks.

Spurs have the option to sign Werner permanently from RB Leipzig for around £15 million, so it will be interesting to see if they trigger that clause given the German's fine start to life in north London.

In any case, Ange Postecoglou's side do in fact end up going for another wide player, they have plenty of options – with pundit Paul Robinson telling Tottenham News that Eze would be a great capture.

“I think he’d be a great signing for Tottenham, I mean we’ve seen his qualities in the Premier League this season,” said Robinson.

"He’s 25, with his attacking prowess, he has the ability to play in the midfield but more of an attacking midfielder. You look at the options Tottenham have got in those areas, Brennan Johnson’s come in – would they have signed Eze last year ahead of Johnson? There’s an argument potentially they would have done if they could have done."

Tottenham to look at signing Nico Williams

Now, though, it appears another option for Spurs could be Athletic Bilbao forward Nico Williams.

The £43 million winger has bagged three goals and seven assists this season, with Chelsea and Arsenal thought to be real admirers. According to journalist Ryan Taylor of The Mirror, Spurs could look to sign Williams ahead of their London rivals, in what he describes as potentially one of the biggest transfer stories this summer.

The Spaniard looks set to be a hot commodity this summer, and his £43m release clause may well be a luring factor for Tottenham.

Players unavailable due to scheduling and workload management ahead of India’s tour of Australia in January 2020

Annesha Ghosh27-Sep-2019India’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and 19-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues, who has been on the radar of at least two teams, are unlikely to feature in the first standalone Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) – set to start much earlier than usual – from October 18 to December 8.The tournament is likely to clash with India’s month-long tour of the Caribbean, leaving the players with a very limited window towards the end of what will be the fifth season of the WBBL. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Indian team, currently playing a T20I series at home against South Africa, is tentatively slated to depart for the Caribbean on October 23. India will also play three ODIs against South Africa, with the last match on October 14.Scheduling aside, it is understood that the players were keen to be fresh for India’s tour of Australia next year which will feature a tri-series involving England – from January 31 to February 12 – ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup to be held there in February-March. India will take on hosts and defending champions Australia in the tournament opener on February 21.The scheduling meant Sydney Thunder did not offer a contract extension to Harmanpreet, a key player in their line-up since 2016-17. Harmanpreet, however, was approached by the Melbourne Stars. Mandhana, who was contracted with the Hobart Hurricanes, was set to continue for a second consecutive edition. She had earlier been part of the Brisbane Heat in 2016-17.Rodrigues’ wait for a WBBL contract is set to continue. She enjoyed a breakthrough KSL season for Yorkshire Diamonds, finishing the season as the second-highest run-scorer. Her fearless approach in limited-overs formats has impressed many – including Australia captain Meg Lanning – since her international debut in February last year.Rodrigues’ high-scoring exploits on foreign soil – in South Africa (February 2018), New Zealand (earlier this year) and in the KSL, coupled with her chart-topping tally at the Women’s T20 Challenge at home in May, made her a sought-after player among two WBBL franchises.”The BCCI doesn’t discourage any of our women’s players from taking part in overseas leagues as long as their participation [in those tournaments] doesn’t clash with their national duties,” BCCI’s general manager (cricket operations) Saba Karim told ESPNcricinfo. “In this case, there’s an international series to be played, so that will automatically be on top of their list of priorities.”The standalone WBBL marks a departure from its preceding four seasons. With the exception of the women’s final last season which was accorded a standalone slot, on Australia Day, the women’s competition had traditionally run parallel to the men’s tournament.

Australia captain Tim Paine has declared that his team’s 2019 Ashes blueprint would not change, despite copping a battering from Jofra Archer’s speed and losing Steven Smith to concussion at Lord’s, with the Headingley Test following swiftly in its wake from Thursday.This extends to Paine’s desire to assert himself with the occasional hook shot, even though it briefly imperilled the tourists in fading light on the final day of a Lord’s match that, despite losing five-and-a-half sessions to rain, still provided much to cherish and remember. When Paine failed to clear the leaping Joe Denly halfway in from the boundary, the Australians had only four wickets in hand and seven overs still to face.”You don’t have a lot of time to think. Sometimes you get it wrong,” Paine said. “I was thinking about ducking under it, but 150kph can make you do different things. I just didn’t hit it where I would have liked to have hit it. I’m not going to overthink it. I’m going to keep playing the way I want to play.”England captain Joe Root foreshadowed that Paine would be receiving more of the same in the remainder of the series, and said he had been trying to corner his opposite number into hitting out against Archer, given the paceman’s hostility and a field setting that made it hard to simply play defensively at the short stuff.ALSO READ: Super sub Labuschagne steps into the breach for Australia“You’re always trying to mess around with things. On that wicket, it was very difficult to get underneath the ball, and with two short legs right around the corner, stand up and play it doesn’t seem like a great option, and you don’t really want to let it hit you,” he said. “You’re trying to play with their mind and see what different things they want to do. I was trying to keep [Travis] Head on strike as well at the other end for the spinner to bowl into the rough and it ended up working out quite nicely. We’ve seen him get out a couple of times, especially against us. I think he might get a few more.”The rearguard led by Smith’s concussion substitute Marnus Labuschagne and vice-captain Head allowed Australia to wriggle clear in the end. Paine said the team would take confidence from the fact that an array of players have shown the ability to step up – even if Smith is ruled out of the Leeds match with the after-effects of his concussion. He also indicated that the team did not need to rethink their plans, pointing to dropped catches and sub-par use of the DRS as reasons why the match could have turned out rather differently.”We’ll focus on what we think is going to win the games and our message from a captain or a coach won’t change,” Paine said. “We’ve got a pretty clear plan in place that we think if we execute we can win the Ashes in these conditions. Whether Steve’s playing, whether James Pattinson is playing, it doesn’t matter. The players we pick are picked to play a role, they’re really clear on that. They know what’s expected. Everyone on our team does.”It’s not so much about the person. We’ve been lucky that we’ve had Steve Smith batting really well but I thought Marnus came in and batted as well as anyone did in the Test match. We wanted two [substitutes] – I think if Smithy is averaging 62, you want to bring a couple of batters in. But Marnus played superbly, for a guy in probably his [sixth] Test. He got hit hard in the face second ball and I thought he showed great character great skill and technique. We know Marnus is a quality player and he’s getting better all the time. We’re happy with the way he played.Travis Head gets low to sweep•AFP

“At one stage we thought we were going to have to run some gloves out to him [Head] to tell him we were not chasing the total. But that is the beauty of Heady and Marnus and something we want them to do, play the same way regardless of the situation and if you do that in your first five Test matches that will give you some real belief and we don’t want to take away their courage and natural attacking style of play.”Other spot fires in the Australian side include the underperformance of David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, while Usman Khawaja is also yet to pass 50 for the series. Nevertheless, the strength of the pace attack – likely to be reinforced by Pattinson for Headingley – and the steel shown at various points across Lord’s meant that Australia were still decent value for their 1-0 series advantage with three to play.”We’ll get to Leeds, have a look at the conditions and pick the best team to win the game and take 20 wickets,” Paine said. “I think if you look at top-order batting across the two teams it shows you it’s probably a pretty difficult place to be batting on either side. Yes, those guys would like more runs. We know how good David is, he’s got 7000 Test runs at 50 and Cameron Bancroft I thought in this game looked pretty good, faced a lot of balls … probably would’ve liked to have scored a few more runs but I thought he acquitted himself pretty well again against some pretty high-quality bowling.”I wouldn’t say it was a great escape at all. I would’ve said we played reasonably well to 3 for 130 and then you have a little something that doesn’t quite go your way and you’ve got a guy bowling 150kph and it’s quite dark and it’s difficult. That’s Test cricket but we found a way out of it. I’m really proud of our team. But I thought in our first innings as well, I thought the way our tail stuck at it in a pretty uncomfortable batting period of time.”I know some tails wouldn’t dig in like ours did so I was really proud of the way they went about it in the first innings. Guys bowling at that pace take time to get used to and Jofra bowls from quite a height. He gets steep bounce. It can take a little bit of time to get used to, there’s no doubt about that. I think the reason a lot of guys were hit in this game was because the pitch was actually a little bit two-paced as well. It was very difficult to decide whether to pull or duck because you duck and some didn’t get up, you’d try and stand up and pull and it took off.”As for the fact that the Lord’s stalemate meant Australia needed only one win from the remaining three Tests to retain the Ashes in England for the first time since 2001, Paine had not yet given himself time to ponder this. But it was not hard to imagine that, on the bus to Yorkshire on Monday morning, he will.

Tottenham Hotspur have added two new players to Ange Postecoglou's squad during the January transfer window so far and have until Thursday night to make any further additions.

Timo Werner was brought in on loan from RB Leipzig until the end of the season to improve the club's attacking options and central defender Radu Dragusin was signed from Genoa on a permanent deal.

Tottenham's £25m pursuit

Spurs had been thought to be leading a whole host of clubs trying to sign a talented 18-year-old starlet from Belgium, with reports in the last couple of weeks claiming Tottenham were close to an agreement for Club Brugge starlet Antonio Nusa.

The report stated that the Lilywhites were working hard to snap up Nusa for £25m and that they were in pole position to secure his services ahead of fellow Premier League sides Fulham and Chelsea, with a deal thought to be a long-term one, but with an agreement to loan the player back to his current employers for the rest of this season.

The decision to send the Norway international back to the Belgian side on loan until the end of the season was said to have convinced the player to pick Spurs ahead of their rivals, but Postecoglou has now been dealt a huge blow as Tottenham are set to miss out on a deal for the Brugge magician to another Premier League outfit.

Antonio Nusa transfer update

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Brentford have formally reached an agreement with the Belgian side to sign Nusa before Thursday's deadline. The reporter states that a deal worth in excess of €30m (£25.5m) is in place between the two sides, which is slightly higher than the fee that Spurs were reportedly looking to snap him up for earlier this month.

Romano claims that the teenage dynamo has also given the move a green light as he is prepared to make the switch to Thomas Frank's side. However, like with the transfer that was previously proposed by Tottenham, Nusa will remain with Brugge on loan until the end of the 2023/24 campaign before linking up with his new teammates next season.

This is a blow for Postecoglou as the impressive young winger has caught the eye with his promising displays for club and country so far this term.

23/24 Pro League	Antonio Nusa (via Sofascore)
Appearances	16
Starts	Six
Sofascore rating	7.22
Goals	Three
Assists	Two
Big chances created	Five

As you can see in the table above, the left winger has been productive in the Belgian top-flight, despite his lack of starts, as a scorer and a creator of goals. His creativity was also on display for Norway across his three appearances and one start in their European Championship qualifying campaign as the right-footed ace registered three assists, created two big chances and made six key passes.

This means that the Brugge gem, who was once hailed as "electric" by analyst Ben Mattinson, has produced three goals, five assists, and seven 'big chances' created in 19 appearances and seven starts for club and country in the Pro League and European Championship qualifiers this term.

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Meanwhile, Brennan Johnson has racked up one goal, four assists, and four 'big chances' created in 15 Premier League starts for Spurs since his move from Nottingham Forest. He has not provided consistent quality in front of goal and a new signing could have provided much-needed competition for his position moving forward.

These statistics suggests that Nusa, if he could adapt to English football, could have offered more than the Wales international in the final third, both in terms of his quality as a scorer and a creator of goals, which is why this update on the forward's future is a blow for Postecoglou.

Ending the window in dramatic fashion, Fulham took advantage of Chelsea's U-turn to sign Armando Broja on loan in a deal reportedly worth up to £4m. After welcoming the forward, however, the Cottagers are now reportedly set to lose one of Marco Silva's other attacking options, as a European club stop off in London as part of a double swoop.

Fulham transfer news

After putting pen to paper on the loan move, Broja told FFCtv: "It feels amazing. I'm really happy to be here and I can't wait to get started, meet the players and manager and play for the fans.

"The fans always play a big role and I can't wait to go to Craven Cottage and meet them all. I'm going to work hard for the team and create a real bond. I'm really honoured and excited to be here."

The arrival of Broja looks likely to have a knock-on effect elsewhere, however, with the London club now set to lose an attacking option after the conclusion of the January transfer window. According to Fabrizio Romano, Galatasaray have reached a verbal agreement to sign Carlos Vinicius on loan from Fulham until the end of the season in a double deal that will also reportedly see them sign Nottingham Forest's Serge Aurier.

Swapping Vinicius for Broja, Silva will hope that the latter gets firing straight away to finally hand Fulham a consistent goalscorer once more.

"Strong" Vinicius struggled at Fulham

After a year and a half at the club, Vinicius' loan move away from Fulham comes at the perfect time. Truth be told, the forward has struggled since completing the move, with Aleksandar Mitrovic's exit failing to provide the former Tottenham Hotspur man a springboard into Silva's starting role. Given the praise that Jose Mourinho once held for Vinicius, Fulham fans may have been left frustrated by his form.

Carlos Vinicius at Fulham

Stats (via Transfermarkt)

Appearances

48

Goals

8

Assists

3

Mourinho previously said via To the Land and Back during the forward's loan spell at Spurs: "He is a big boy, a strong boy, and needs to be more physical in the Premier League but I am happy. It is good for the team to have that because for example last season if Harry Kane needed a rest – we couldn’t and because Vinicius is here, the squad is much more balanced."

Vinicius will now hope to rediscover his best form at Galatasaray, before potentially returning to finally make a significant impact back at Craven Cottage in the next campaign. It could be a vital few months for the striker's career.

Whilst Sunderland will want their focus to be on handing Michael Beale a successful first transfer window in charge with some players who fit his style, it has been exit news stealing the headlines as he looks to keep hold of the Black Cats' Championship play-off spot. Now, an approach has reportedly been made, potentially handing Sunderland an uphill battle.

Sunderland transfer news

When it comes to incomings, although Sunderland are unlikely to be the biggest spenders this month, they could still hand Beale some crucial reinforcements. Sam Gallagher's transfer rumours suggest that he may well be among those too. The Blackburn Rovers forward has reportedly been identified as a back-up option, should Sunderland's pursuit of Kieffer Moore fall short. Given that Gallagher's contract runs out this summer, he could be one to keep an eye on if the Black Cats look to bolster their attacking options.

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Beale, of course, may be left with no choice but to seek offensive reinforcements, with reports indicating that those at The Stadium of Light face a battle to keep hold of one of their most important players this month. According to Wayne Veysey of Football Insider, Sunderland have received an approach for Jack Clarke from West Ham United, in a development on the London club's previous interest.

The winger, who Sunderland reportedly value at between £15m and £20m, has attracted plenty of interest in the January transfer window, with Brentford and Crystal Palace also registering their interest in the 23-year-old.

One boost that Sunderland have seemingly received, however, is that Clarke is concerned about moving back to a London club after failing to make an impact at Tottenham Hotspur some time ago. Keen to earn Premier League redemption nonetheless, it remains to be seen whether Clarke will pursue that redemption with Sunderland or another English club to deal the Black Cats a major blow this month.

"Great" Clarke is key to Sunderland promotion

If Sunderland are to secure a spot in the play-offs and then subsequent promotion this season, keeping hold of their star man will be the key. Clarke's stats alone show just how good he's been, with his 12 goals and two assists handing Sunderland a helping hand into the top six. With everything to play for in the second half of the campaign, the winger could yet get even better too, whether that be in the Premier League or at The Stadium of Light.

The West Ham target has previously earned the praise of former manager Tony Mowbray, who said last April: "I had a big shout at him at half-time, to be honest, I thought he was really poor for 20 minutes but his reaction was amazing. We can't sit here and question Jack Clarke's talent, he has double-figure goals now from the left wing and I think probably double-figure assists as well. He's a great player and yet he has to understand – and in my mind he is still a young boy – that we need 90 minutes, not a brilliant 60 minutes.

"Yet, notoriously, wide attackers are a bit flighty, generally. I want Jack to be the best player every game, score goals, create goals, and be too good for the Championship. He has to embrace that and want to do it, and not be happy if he is getting shouted at. I've said to him that I'll always love him. I'll shout at him, I'll get annoyed, but the next morning I'll make you a cup of tea and put my arm around you, it's fine – life's good."

Newcastle United’s nightmare continued from the end of 2023 into the new year with a devastating 4-2 loss away at Liverpool. However, the scoreline certainly flattered to deceive the visitors.

The Premier League leaders registered an xG of 7.27 against the Magpies on Monday night which became the highest total of expected goals ever conceded by a team in England’s top-flight since the metric began being quantified.

As a result, Newcastle slipped to their seventh defeat in eight matches in all competitions as the Geordie outfit’s woes pile on.

However, the January transfer window is now open and head coach Eddie Howe has the chance to rectify any problems in his squad, particularly at the back.

Newcastle United transfer news – Joachim Andersen

According to the Sunday Mirror (31/12/2023; page 73), Newcastle United are eyeing up a move for Crystal Palace centre-back Joachim Andersen, as Howe looks to bolster his defensive department before the deadline passes at the beginning of next month.

Furthermore, the outlet are claiming that the Eagles are holding out for an offer of £60m for the Danish central defender, having initially paid in the ballpark of £20m for him back in 2021.

While the London club are languishing in the bottom half of the table, only seven clubs have conceded fewer goals than Palace this term, six of which are battling it out for the top four and the league title. Andersen has certainly played his part in this solid defensive record, having played every minute for the Eagles throughout the 2023/24 campaign.

Now, the Denmark international could be on the move to St. James’ Park this month if Newcastle can front the money.

Joachim Andersen’s stats this season

Andersen has been a rock at the back for Palace this season alongside his centre-back partner Marc Guehi. Football scout Jacek Kulig even described the duo as an “underrated and quality” pairing.

Given that Newcastle have two ageing central defenders, there is a long-term spot next to £35m signing Sven Botman that is up for grabs. Both club captain Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schar are now on the wrong side of 30 and have rotated the right centre-half spot in Howe’s 4-3-3 this season, depending on who is fit.

However, Lascelles has primarily been forced to watch on from the bench, having seen just 1,074 minutes of Premier League football this term compared to Schar, who has played 1,724 minutes in England’s top-flight.

The skipper has fallen down Newcastle’s pecking order ever since Howe arrived at the club and Andersen’s arrival could be the final nail in his coffin. In fact, Andersen has been outperforming both Lascelles and Schar in this campaign, so neither defender’s place in the team is safe if the ex-Lyon man is added to the squad over the coming weeks.

Goals

0.10

0.05

0

Expected Goals

0.06

0.05

0

Assists

0.05

0

0

Expected Assists

0.06

0.02

0

Progressive Passes

4.75

2.41

3.98

Progressive Carries

0.75

0.48

0.79

Passes To Final 1/3

5.45

2.83

4.45

Tackles

1.50

1.14

1.31

Tackles Won

0.95

0.74

0.84

Interceptions

1.05

0.32

0.94

Aerial Duels Won %

65.2

68.1

50.7

Stats via FBref

Andersen has been on the radar of top English clubs for quite some time, having previously been linked with clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United before he joined Palace two-and-a-half years ago.

It will be nice to finally see the Scandinavian stalwart get the recognition he deserves by moving to a side competing for one of the league’s European places if this deal comes to fruition.